Ceremony of initiation begins for 35 people shunning worldly life to embrace monkhood

The first one to become a Jain monk in the family, the Class IX student said, “I like the fact that from the time we wake up till we retire for the day, we all stay together unlike school where we meet for 6 to 7 hours and then separate.”

Het’s mother Rimpal Shah said, “In 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, for two years he followed updhana tap (replicating the life of a Jain monk at an institution or gurukul), where you live like an ideal Jain monk… he decided to become one. In those two years, he came home for around 30 days, and never made any calls home. Only we would call him.”

“He would tell us that M S Dhoni and I will retire at the same time,” said Het’s father Mayurbhai Shah, a banker in Surat. He added that they were mentally prepared when they left Het for updhana tap, “so this did not come as a shock to the family”.

Meanwhile, a multi millionnaire from Himmatnagar, Bhavesh Bhandari (46), who owns Simandhar Finance, and his wife Jinal (43), are also renouncing the world, inspired by their teenage children. The couple’s children – a son aged 19 and daughter aged 16 years – became monks along with 72 others in Surat in 2021.

Bhavesh said he “consulted” his 19-year-old son before taking the decision. “They became the engine and we their coaches. I was not too sure when I should take diksha but my son inspired me…”

Bhavesh has been preparing for this day since the last one year, relieving himself of all his financial assets. “After April 22, I would not be able to sign any document, so I have transferred everything to my 73-year-old father and 49-year-old elder brother,” he added.

Among the 35, there is 25-year-old Deveshkumar Ratadiya from Surat, a BCom student who is also pursuing CA intermediate. “Though we are very religious at home, nobody dared to become a monk. I will be first from my family,” he said.

Also a singer and musician, Deveshkumar said he had been thinking of embracing monkhood for long. “At home, we have AC, travel in car, have people doing chores for you. But two years ago, I took the challenge to undergo updhana tap,” he added.

However, failing to cope up, he returned home from the gurukul. Deveshkumar again underwent updhana tap last year. It took him 10 days to convince his family that he is determined and won’t return this time.

The event in Ahmedabad, scheduled from April 18 to 22, will witness 15 men and 20 women between 11 and 56 years years of age – 10 below the age of 18, five couples, one entire family with three members and several siblings – shun worldly lives.

A special Adhyatma Nagri has been created for the five-day event, which includes a Jain temple and an assembly hall that can accommodate around 25,000 devotees. A dining hall has also been designed in which around 3,200 people can be seated in a row.

Also, for the first time, Narka (hell) has been created, with life-like scenes of how the creatures in hell are tortured. Further, the Adhyatma Nagri has a grand theater in which the stories of Jain celebrities will be presented in the form of short plays.

The 35 people will be given diksha by Acharya Shree Vijay Yogtilaksuriji, who has gained popularity as ‘Mahanayaka of diksha’.